Washed Out on His New Album, Paracosm, and His Vogue Summer Playlist

Think back to the summer of 2009 and you’ll most likely hear echoes of Washed Out’s “Feel It All Around,” a synth-heavy, beach-ready track that ushered in the chillwave genre and later became known as the opening theme on Portlandia. In fact, there’s something so distinctly summery about the Washed Out sound, from the first Life of Leisure EP to 2011’s full-length debut Within and Without, that the arrival of his latest release, the much-anticipated follow-up Paracosm (out August 13 on Sub Pop), seems as essential to the season as flip-flops and sunscreen.

But unlike Washed Out’s previous efforts, in which frosty digital-age samples and drum machines served as the sonic backbone, Paracosm has a lush, natural feel, beginning with a bird-chirping, harp-scaling overture inspired by the rural Georgia retreat where the 30-year-old artist, né Ernest Greene, has made his home and studio. The record’s botanical motif carries throughout, from its floral cover art to a fauna-filled music video filmed at the London Zoo, to even a Paracosm ice cream flavor (raspberry, rose, and pink peppercorn) created with Brooklyn creamery Odd Fellows. Dressing on theme (by his account, unintentionally) in a colorful Hawaiian-print shirt, Greene spoke with Vogue about the new album and his exclusive summer playlist.

More than 50 instruments were used across nine tracks. What were some of the more unusual among these?Probably half of the sounds from the record were from the mellotron, which was invented in the early fifties and is a primitive sampler, basically. They’re meant to re-create certain sounds but they kind of failed miserably, pitching in and out of tune, so there’s a really great unpredictable quality that I thought was interesting and became its own thing.

You’ve cited the outsider artist Henry Darger as an influence for the album. In what way did his work play a part in Paracosm?Around Christmas I watched the documentary about his life and seeing his work was super inspiring for the visuals. His color selections were a lot of pastels, very bright and in-your-face, and there’s kind of a handmade quality that I drew a connection with. He was really into tracing things and pulling different images, like newspapers and magazines, and incorporating them into his pieces. The way I make music is a lot of sampling, re-contextualizing old sounds, so it’s very similar.

The video for “Don’t Give Up,” directed by Kate Moross, also has a very vivid, painterly quality that recalls Rousseau’s animal tableaux. How did you settle on filming wildlife?We went through a ton of treatments and nothing felt right until I talked to Kate. She brought up the animal idea and was like, “I’ve been trying to make this video forever and I know someone at the zoo in London who would give us access to shoot for the day.” For me, it just made sense because I was very much influenced by nature and bright colors, so the patterns of the animals were what drew me to the concept. Everything was really beautiful and totally fell into my notion of what the record was about.

How does your approach to music differ as a producer versus a songwriter?I’m a producer first, a songwriter much farther down the line. When I started with Washed Out, I never intended on singing. I just did the vocals on the demo of these songs, thinking someone else would eventually sing, and I haphazardly fell into being a singer that way. What’s funny was, when I finished this record, I sent it to a handful of close friends to get their opinions and one of them was like, “Oh yeah, I love those female backing vocals on ‘Falling Back.’ Who did you get to sing on that?” and it was just me.

The tracks on Paracosm flow so seamlessly that the album feels more like a film score. Was this planned from the outset?When I DJ, I love the ebb and flow of doing a set where things naturally build and descend, so the track sequencing is actually fun for me. The record never really starts and stops. It’s a daydream of sorts, an Alice in Wonderland story where the first song is very hypnotic and meant to transition the listener into this world. Alice is falling down the rabbit hole. It’s like you’re stumbling through this world from one event to the next.

So give me a play-by-play of your Vogue summer playlist.Kindness, “House”It starts off really minimal with a piano, then kicks up to an R&B kind of thing.

Toro Y Moi, “Sweet”It’s an instrumental of his but feels fast and uplifting.

Koushik, “Be With”This song just has a feeling of being outside—there’s all these really light psychedelic touches.